Escape from Tarkov is getting a classic drum-fed submachine gun

There are few games out there that take their guns as seriously as Escape from Tarkov does, which makes the announcement of a new firearm a big deal for Tarkov players. Battlestate Games has teased a new weapon in 1development for Tarkov, and it’s the PPSh-41, a Soviet submachine gun that saw extensive service in World War II and the Korean War.

In a tweet Friday, Battlestate games shared a clip of the untextured model, along with a reload animation. It shows the player’s hands readying the PPSh-41, then removing and replacing the 71-round drum magazine and pulling back the bolt. Finally, the player inspects the weapon.

The PPSh-41 – or ‘Shpagin machine pistol’ – is a natural fit for Tarkov, both thematically and mechanically. It was produced and used through the 1940s to 1960s in the USSR, and is still used by several countries and militias today. It fires the powerful 7.62×25mm Tokarev round, which is commonly found in Tarkov already as ammunition for the TT pistol. It has a wooden stock and a stamped-steel body, and uses an open bolt, blowback action.

The Wikipedia page for the PPSh-41 provides some interesting details on the weapon, and some clues as to what we might expect to see when it arrives in Tarkov. For instance, barrels from the 7.62mm Mosin-Nagant rifle were sometimes cut in half to make barrels for the PPSh-41, and during World War II, the German Army converted captured PPSh-41s to fire 9×19mm Parabellum rounds.

Germany also produced magazine adapter kits for the weapon to allow it to accept MP-40 magazines, although the less powerful Parabellum rounds would reduce the PPSh-41’s rate of fire from 800 RPM down to 750 RPM. The weapon originally came with the aforementioned drum magazine, but a simpler 35-round box magazine was eventually produced as well.

It certainly isn’t the kind of high-accuracy hunting rifle that you’ll see Tarkov streamers favouring for most raiding, but the PPSh-41 should be absolutely brutal in close quarters situations like Factory, or the dormitories on Customs. We’ll be looking forward to trying it out ourselves.

Get involved in the conversation by heading over to our Facebook and Instagram pages. To stay up to date with the latest PC gaming guides, news, and reviews, follow PCGamesN on Twitter.